Merry Go 'Round (Kacey Musgraves song)

"Merry Go 'Round" is the debut single by American country music artist Kacey Musgraves. It was released in September 2012 as the lead single from her debut album Same Trailer Different Park. Musgraves co-wrote and co-produced the song with Shane McAnally, with additional writing from Josh Osborne and production assistance from Luke Laird.

"Merry Go 'Round" redirects here. For other uses, see Merry-go-round (disambiguation).
"Merry Go 'Round"
Single by Kacey Musgraves
from the album Same Trailer Different Park
ReleasedSeptember 10, 2012
GenreCountry
Length3:28
LabelMercury Nashville
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kacey Musgraves singles chronology
"Oh, Tonight"
(2011)		 "Merry Go 'Round"
(2012)		 "Blowin' Smoke"
(2013)

"Merry Go 'Round" won the Grammy Award for Best Country Song at the 56th Grammy Awards.[1]

Content

The song is a cynical observation on life in the American heartland.[2] It uses samples of the nursery rhyme Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary as a continued play-on-words. The latter part of the song retells another traditional nursery rhyme, Jack and Jill, in a modernized fashion. It is in the key of F-sharp major, in a 2/2 time signature with an approximate tempo of 88 beats per minute.[3] The song's main accompaniment is guitar and banjo.

The song's plays on words in the chorus are only made possible by the General American merger of Mary, marry and merry.

Critical reception

Giving it 4.5 stars out of 5, Billy Dukes of Taste of Country compared the song's style and Musgraves' voice favorably to Miranda Lambert.[2] It received a "thumbs up" from Juli Thanki of Engine 145, who said that Musgraves "writes with a maturity beyond her 24 years, delivering an unflinching look into small-town life that’s more nuanced than the highly romanticized rural anthems offered up by many of her male counterparts."[4]

It also made "NPR Music's 100 Favorite Songs of 2012" list.[5] It was number 1 on Billboard's "10 Best Country Singles of 2013" list.[6]

Rolling Stone named it the 49th best single of 2012.[7] It was also ranked number 362 in the 2021 revision of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[8]

Music video

Directed by Perry Bean, the music video premiered in September 2012.[9]

Commercial performance

"Merry Go 'Round" peaked at No. 14 on the Hot Country Songs chart.[1] The song reached the top 10 of the Billboard Country Airplay chart. The song has sold 825,000 copies in the US as of February 2014.[10]

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[18] 2× Platinum 2,000,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References
  1. Wade Jessen (February 6, 2014). "Kacey Musgraves, Hunter Hayes Show Grammy Growth On Country Charts". Billboard.
  2. "Kacey Musgraves, 'Merry Go Round' – Song Review". Tasteofcountry.com. 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  3. "'Merry Go 'Round' sheet music". Musicnotes.com. 16 January 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
  4. "Kacey Musgraves – "Merry Go 'Round"". Engine 145. 2012-09-26. Archived from the original on 2013-01-22. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  5. "Music's 100 Favorite Songs Of 2012 : Best Music Of 2012". NPR. 2012-12-22. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  6. "Billboard Top 10 List". Billboard. 2013-12-23. Archived from the original on 2013-12-27. Retrieved 2014-01-03.
  7. "50 Best Songs of 2012: Kacey Musgraves, 'Merry Go Round'". Rolling Stone. 5 December 2012. Retrieved 2013-03-21.
  8. "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2022-03-20.
  9. "CMT : Videos : Kacey Musgraves : Merry Go 'Round". Country Music Television. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  10. Bjorke, Matt (2013-02-12). "Country Chart News – The Top 30 Digital Singles – Feb 12, 2014: Cole Swindell Dominates; Scotty McCreery Hits Gold". Roughstock. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21.
  11. "Kacey Musgraves Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  12. "Kacey Musgraves Chart History (Canada Country)". Billboard.
  13. "Kacey Musgraves Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  14. "Kacey Musgraves Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  15. "Kacey Musgraves Chart History (Country Airplay)". Billboard.
  16. "Billboard Country Update for December 16, 2013" (PDF). Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. December 16, 2013. p. 21. Retrieved December 17, 2013.
  17. "Best of 2013: Hot Country Songs". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. 2013. Retrieved December 13, 2013.
  18. "American single certifications – Kacey Musgraves – Merry Go 'Round". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved August 10, 2022.
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